Water, water - but it's not everywhere...

Plan's International Media Officer Jane Labous writes about the importance of World Water Day.

Last time I was in Dakar, Senegal, my apartment only had cold water. When I first arrived, I considered this a hardship, and I’d diligently warm a pan of water on the stove every morning for my shower. Transferring the pan to a bucket, I quickly learnt the local technique of scooping the hot water over myself with a stripy plastic kettle (they’re always stripy, always plastic...). Suddenly hot water was a luxury, not a given, and suddenly that handkerchief-sized splash of hot water felt as good as a power shower.

After a few weeks the water went off altogether, a regular occurrence in Dakar where random water cuts can last for days. 

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What’s the impact of a new music studio in Senegal?

Up until recently, the idea of a music career was all but a dream for children living in the slums of Dakar. However, thanks to the support of famed Swedish rapper Timbuktu, Plan in Senegal has opened a new music studio.

Now there are possibilities for Senegalese children to be heard in their communities … and maybe even the world.

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Improving education and wellbeing amongst vulnerable children in Senegal

Plan is working in Senegal to improve the educational opportunities and general welfare of children attending Koranic schools, known as daaras.

Partly due to a lack of funds and resources, young people living as part of daara arrangements face substandard living conditions and inadequate educational provisions. Moreover, maltreatment and exploitation is common. Many of the students, or talibés, are some of Senegal's most vulnerable children, separated from friends and family and living on the street.

“Traditionally, children went to daaras to learn the Koran, but also to learn a profession – such as agriculture,” says Oumar Ben Khatab Gueye, a project worker at Plan Senegal. “But it is now corrupt. The talibés are now children who are on the street, in a difficult situation, vulnerable physically and mentally, and often mistreated.”

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